Banyana Banyana head coach Dr Desiree Ellis has expressed that she was a mother to Linda Motlhalo and all her players when Gabriela Salgado went down with a serious injury in the side’s 2-1 defeat to Nigeria at the WAFCON.
The semi-final clash was tied at 1-1 when the JVW FC midfielder went down and had to be stretched off in the 87th minute in Casablanca on Tuesday evening.
Both sets of players were visibly distraught with the South Africans breaking into tears and running to their bench for comfort. The South African Football Association has since said in a statement that Salgado was taken to hospital with an update on her condition expected today.
Meanwhile, the coach who has given most the girls their senior national team debuts said in that moment she was a parent along with her technical team comforting and encouraging their players to finish the game for their teammate.
“I was a mother,” said Ellis.
“Just trying to say to her, just stay calm, just do this for Gabby. That was the talk. Do this for Gabby, make sure that you get over the line for Gabby because that’s what it was all about. At that moment, we were just thinking about Gabby.
“And that’s what we said to the players do this for Gabby. Make sure, stay calm but it was very difficult to keep them calm because lot of them broke down.
“Going back home to the field I think some of them were still crying and I think that’s what got to them.”
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